I have the dvd... Fell asleep watching it. It has SOME good info on it but nothing that has not been disscused here in length. I'll send my copy to anyone who wants it. Just send me a message through this site with a name and address and its yours.

scott123

Hello Jerry, Be sure to check out alternate less costly ways of doing everything: About $5 for unglazed quarry tiles at the home store in place of a $40 baking stone

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The dough should sit until it is doubled in size. If it doubled in the refrigerator, you can use it right away.

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The screens really do help you to get a round pizza. You can transfer it directly to the stone once the pizza releases from the screen.

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Wow! I and many other people (including Pampered Chef dealers) have been preheating Pampered Chef stones for years.

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Recently I have been experimenting with a different type of stone: Fibrament – with excellent results.

I'll give her a little bit of credit for understanding the value and inherent safety of using bromated flour, but when it comes to oven thermodynamics and how to properly bake a pizza, she's completely and utterly clueless.

buceriasdon

I have not read all 85 pages of the pdf. ebook completely but I found it was competently written and would be informative for someone starting out baking New York style pizza. I easily found it by googling. Don

I agree with Don's assessment of the Pizza Secrets document. Bev Collins worked for many years at Domino's in a prominent research capacity, quite possibly including the time where Domino's used deck ovens, so I believe that she knows more about ovens than discussed in the Pizza Secrets document (she does talk about lining shelves of home ovens with stones or tiles--although she prefers the Fibrament stone--and she discusses moving the pizza around the oven and using different rack positions to get an even bake). Ms. Collins does mention the KASL for those who want to purchase high-gluten flour in small quantities but she also discusses other high-gluten flours, including bromated flours, for those who want to purchase in much larger quantity, such as 50-lb bags.

The Pizza Secrets document is directed to folks who just want to make a decent pizza at home, not those who are as devoted to achieving perfection as the members on this forum. I personally learned only a few new things when I first read the document but I think it might help those who are just starting out with their home pizza making efforts and do not wish to wade through the posts here on the forum to find the same information and how to assemble that information to make a credible pizza at home.

scott123

Scott - I think it would be pretty intimidating to have you over my place for pizza!

John, you make some of the best looking Neapolitan pizzas this forum has to offer. I would probably be the one who'd be intimidated

Now, if you started going around telling people that you're expert on NY Style pizza and have a recipe that guarantees the 'Best Pizza Anywhere' using a fibrament stone and a screen, then not only would I recommend not having me over for pizza, but I'd highly recommend avoiding me completely- because you and I would have a big problem.

scott123

How about a quick lesson, or pizza making link, on the proper use of thermodynamics when making pizza.

Tom, I'm in the process of documenting my process, but if you really want to step up your game, get a better stone. The single greatest factor in making great pizza is an abbreviated bake time. Fibrament has the lowest conductivity of just about any material used in baking and produces mediocre 8+ minute bakes (at traditional peak oven temps). NY style should ideally be closer to a 4 minute bake. To achieve that you have to either have a conductive stone (steel or soapstone) and/or mod your oven so it gets hotter.

Now, this book may compare relatively favorably to the books that are out there, but, let's face it, what's out there is garbage. Reinhart? And I don't think 'wading' through this forum is that arduous of a task. The Lehman recipe is front and center. Lehman, 1/2" steel plate, bromated flour. That's an 'UNCONDITIONAL “BEST PIZZA ANYWHERE” GUARANTEE' Now, beginners will have to learn the ins and outs of yeast and how to recognize proper fermentation, but I would think that process would be far easier to master under this forum's tutelage than a book- a book that most likely just says 'use x amount of yeast until dough is 'doubled.'' And no book will ever give people the necessary muscle memory for launching a pie off a peel and onto a stone. That's just practice. Add Tony G's videos on forming and this forum blows any book out of the water. Especially a book by someone who used to work for Dominos. That's just plain embarrassing

Scott, I only know 2 NY guys who are making commercial NY slice pies here in the Austin area, and both are very specific (because you can bet I quizzed them) that they cook on deck ovens with stones at 550-575 for 6 +/- minutes on their 20" pizza. And I have watched them both do it. Is your 4 minutes a number to shoot for in a home oven?

No one with any marketing sense would use a "decent pizza" guarantee, or a "so-so" pizza, or anything like that. Moreover, the law expects that people will use puffing to sell their wares, and will especially tolerate it if the guarantee is backed up by a promise to return monies paid if the buyer is not entirely satisfied with the product in question, as is the case with Ms. Collins' materials.

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And I don't think 'wading' through this forum is that arduous of a task.

buceriasdon

lol scott123, Yea the site is over the top and seems to be modeled after many others.. I had to laugh as the same "amazing results or your money cheerfully refunded" can be seen on sites or commercials whether it's penile enlargement or Sham-Wow! Don

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scott123

Scott, I only know 2 NY guys who are making commercial NY slice pies here in the Austin area, and both are very specific (because you can bet I quizzed them) that they cook on deck ovens with stones at 550-575 for 6 +/- minutes on their 20" pizza. And I have watched them both do it. Is your 4 minutes a number to shoot for in a home oven?

Edit-and if it makes a difference, both are "re-heaters".

Tom, there are a handful of criteria that rigidly arbitrate NY Style and there are qualitative criteria that, in most New Yorker's opinions, define great NY Style. A deck oven (in a commercial setting) is one of the mandatory criteria. Conveyors are an aberration and have no place in real pizzerias. Beyond deck ovens, NY style dough is never punched down. White (bleached or unbleached) flour. Tempering (allowing dough to warm from the fridge) is also a must. Some of these rigid criteria have ranges. Above 3% oil- definitely NOT NY style. More than 2% salt- outside the parameters. More than an 8 minute bake- no.

Now, within that 3-8 bake minute realm, there's definitely qualitative decisions to be made. I wouldn't walk into a pizzeria baking 6 minute pies and tell them that what they're making isn't NY style, but I might say 'hey, have you ever tried a 5 minute bake?' 4-5 minutes isn't going to be as golden brown and delicious as 7-8 (without a lot of added sugar), but authentic NY style pizza isn't GBD. It's somewhere between the leoparding of Neapolitan and GBD of 7+ pies.

A 4 minute bake produces something with tremendous oven spring and a beautiful crumb, with, depending on the hydration, usually a non crisp, puffy chewy crust. That's the holy grail of NY style (imo). Even if someone has a palette that's more geared toward crispy and/or GBD, anyone that loves NY style pizza should have a home oven setup that can pump out a 4 minute pie- to try at least once. A lot of people raised on chain and frozen pizza can't handle the char and moisture of Neapolitan bake times, but I think the majority of Americans, when presented with a 4 minute pie and a 6 minute one, will prefer the 4 minute. If the group of people being polled are NYers, the numbers go even higher.

scott123

Yet, for all that is available to members on this forum, we have had members who have chosen instead to buy Ms. Collins' media on pizza or even from others like Bubba Kuhn's video on pizza.

...and we have members who are still falling prey to Fibrament's marketing claims. And as long as there are members who might be making a decision to purchase these products, I'm going to tell them 'don't waste your money.'

This place is noob nirvana. There's more handholding here than a kindergarten field trip It's one big love fest. Sure, sometimes you get a surge of differing opinions and that can be jarring for beginners, but I still fail to see how a book can hold more hands that what we're doing here, especially a book/video as flawed as this one.

Just to be clear, the quotes that I cherrypicked earlier are just the tip of the issues that I have with Bev's work. A while back, Bev's videos were available for online viewing. Tom Lehmann's big pizza chain thinking/conveyor mentality makes my skin crawl, but these videos from Bev were pure torture. Domino's is a disease- it's everything that's wrong with pizza. Bev isn't helping the home baker recreate Domino's pizza, but the mindset, the ignorance, the disconnect from authenticity permeates everything that she touches. That Domino's stench cannot be washed off.